The Bursting Bookshelf

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event held by Jill over at Breaking The Spine! It's all about those books you just can't wait for and are counting down the days till they come out.

This week the book I can't seem to get out of my head is A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi. I adored her Shatter Me series and can't wait to read a new contemporary book by her! This book comes out on October 16th of this year!

Review:
When I first read the summary of Shatter Me, I immediately picked up on the line:

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men.

 Which simply got me excited because anyone who knows me knows that I adore The Hunger Games and superheroes, especially the X-Men, and the comparison between this book my two addictions set my expectations very high for this book. I am pleased to say that this book exceeded my expectations greatly, proving to be a very powerful read.

At first I was not sure about the cover of this book. Something about it just didn't jive for me, whether it was the simplicity or the way it seemed so symmetric. That was when I first saw the cover though, eventually I actually found myself admiring it, but when I got it in the mail. BAM. It was so shiny and awesome, it had a certain something that you just can't seem to see on the Internet. One of my favourite features of the cover is the tag line; "My touch is lethal. My touch is power." Though I loved the line the first time I saw it, I fell for it even more when I found out how much it reflects the writing within. Also, the split in the font was cool too with how it plays in with the title.

The writing of this book is near impossible to describe. The way it had depth while using a method that I have never seen before, creating a feeling of freshness that I have not felt in quite some time. The way Juliette's thoughts were utilized in this manor was both riveting and mysterious. I just cannot gush enough over the amazingly, awesome quality of this book. It captures the reader in a cage of attention, the only time the cage is unlocked is the last page, when the book ends in a subtle cliffhanger, leaving the reader waiting for the next book, ending in a positive way, but leaving you knowing that danger lies ahead (to be vague for spoilers). The story itself was also beautifully crafted, with no sluggish or slow moments, even though it didn't cover a huge amount of time.

Juliette stands as one of my favourite female protagonists after this book. She faced many challenges and hardships that were unimaginable at times, but she stayed tough and took control of her own destiny. I liked how she was able to be kind even when most would be bitter with her gifts, and she refused to be suppressed by someone because of her differences, plus the depth of her character was simply great. I also loved Adam, who also stood up against the prejudices and government, but also had the strength to endure it for others. Adam was willing to sacrifice in order to save others, and he was willing to trust his friends in a time of deception and lies. I truly loved the characters of this book with their depth and strengths.

I would recommend this to ANYONE, it was honestly one of my favourite books of 2011. I simply cannot get over how much I enjoyed it, so needless to say I give Shatter Me a 5/5.